Articles related to "Financial regulation: The EU's agenda"

Restoring trust in banking depends on policymakers to establish a stable and sustainable new regulatory framework and by bankers themselves to address flawed past governance and management practices, writes Simon Lewis, CEO of the London-based association for financial markets in Europe (AFME).

The UK government's reaction to EU proposals on financial regulation will provide a "potential watershed moment" for UK-EU relations, argue Sir Brian Unwin, ex-president of the European Investment Bank, and Graham Bishop in a June report published by the London-based Federal Trust.

The EU needs an NGO active on financial services issues to counteract the huge power of the banking sector lobby, French Green MEP Pascal Canfin told EurActiv France in an interview, calling for the establishment of a 'Greenpeace of finance'.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde wants the EU to create a single access point for trading shares of young, high-growth businesses and has proposed a range of measures to encourage innovative companies to list on European stock exchanges.

A major draft EU law on market infrastructure will be tabled next July to make share and derivatives trading less risky for investors and the broader financial system from late 2012, industry sources said on Monday.

To forge proposals on financial regulation, the European Commission continues to rely on the advice of financial expert who have vested corporate interests, especially from the City of London, EU lawmakers are claiming.

As the European Parliament inaugurated its brand new special committee on the financial crisis, Wolf Klinz, the panel's chair, warned fellow lawmakers that "we must be prepared to have our own views on the degree of European regulation challenged". He spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

Europeans defended the globally-agreed Basel II capital rules for banks at a G20 meeting of finance ministers this weekend, despite a US call for its effective replacement with a tougher new regime within three years.

EU leaders took aim at the banking sector yesterday (31 August), pledging to check banks' power and push for limits on bonus payments at a G20 summit later this month.

The European Central Bank's quarterly survey of bank lending, to be published tomorrow (29 July), will show that credit conditions are stabilising. But this assessment is at odds with complaints by businesses that bank credit is hard to get.

The Finance Minister of Sweden, which took the helm of the EU yesterday (1 July), said hedge funds and private equity firms needed to be regulated, but warned against "overzealous" initiatives as they should not be seen as the primary cause of the global financial crisis.

Reform of financial supervision in Europe shows how power is shifting in the wake of the credit crunch, with the European Central Bank's star rising and Britain set to lose clout.

The European Commission will today (29 April) adopt two recommendations to match managers' remuneration to their achievements and avoid rewarding failure, as was the case during the current financial crisis.

The hedge fund and private equity industries yesterday (23 April) attacked a draft European Commission directive designed to regulate their activities, due to be published next week.

A draft EU proposal to regulate hedge funds and private equity, due to be unveiled next week, was criticised for being too weak by Socialist leaders, who branded the text a "major political mistake" ahead of European elections in June.

The G20 group of developed and developing countries yesterday (3 April) showed a united front as it agreed on a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and tighten financial rules to stop it happening again.